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Friday, February 24, 2012

Six years Backreaction

It's been six years since I sat in my Santa Barbara office on a Friday morning, clicking the "publish" button on Blogger's editor for the first time. It's been six eventful years, and I want to take the opportunity of this anniversary to thank all our readers and especially the commenters for their contributions!

Over the years, the content of this blog has slightly changed. At present it's mainly a reprocessing of books/papers/articles I read and find interesting enough to discuss, mixed with the occasional family update. I have diverted most of my link dumps to Twitter, Google plus, and Facebook.

Some months ago, I finally updated the template and I've found it's an improvement. Unfortunately, the comment count in the sidebar wasn't possible with the new template. But the archive list is much cleaner now and the labels now work properly.

I was looking at our blog archive the other day, and was wondering if not it would be interesting to recycle some of the older posts (with updates if applicable). I don't want to bore you with repetitions but my guess is that most of our readers have no been around for six years and very few people ever look at the archive. Can you give me some feedback on that? Would you be interested if I'd pick out the occasional post from the archive and brush it up for a new discussion?

16 comments:

You have a really nice blog Sabine. I am pleased to read you and you were one of the motivations to lunch my own blog (now beginning). Best wishes, and continue your tiny big blog here. It is a nice addition to quantum gravity researchers and physicist's blogs.

Here's a comment by Peter Morgan who submits by email, saying he's using Open ID and can't get past the captcha. Anybody has the same problem, please let me know, my email is hossi at nordita dot org.

"Probably interested, probably wouldn't complain or drop the RSS, but it will depend how you do it.

To follow a current train of thought that this post brings to mind, the trouble with Wikipedia is that once someone has said something well enough, no-one bothers to say it again. So it doesn't get said better.

To bring that back to your suggestion, you should say it again from your current perspective, and include a link to what you said a few years ago. Maybe that's too much work. You're good at this (blogging, not easy), but it shouldn't look as if you're making it too easy.

Obviously that's only quick off-the-cuff thoughts. Possibly better not to have commented at all."

Peter Morgan is right about the blogging experience and how progressive the work "will and has to appear" as you revisit the issues.

For some people in research they may take the data and start writing the book that has been long overdue....and others, who continue to build up the data for an " explosive synoptic event" that those same writers having reached in their accumulative data acquisition. At some point, you have to let the Dam open?:)

They revisit where they have come too, "up to this point." For me, the issue of what is in the data archive is re-ignited by the moves one makes progressively through the issues of the day, or their interests.

How better the links and ignition points in the mind if you can draw the data and link to it in a previous blog post on a current issue today?

Sometimes I use your archive myself, looking for other links then the ones you have provided. I might see connections that you might not see. Keywords, used in your search feature. Sometimes looking at this info(keywords used) can help you with new thoughts toward clarification and new posts.

I am glad to have been allowed to participate through the years on yours and Stefan's blog.

So sorry to have missed the anniversary announcement, the time of which actually predates the authors’ own formalized entanglement. As for the value of reposting I think it to be a good idea, especially if something is offered as to have it extended. I wish I could boast as to having followed your blog since its inception, yet can say after discovering it late in 2007 I have done so regularly, as I find it both enriching and entertaining, just as imagine you intended it for all to be.

Bee (and Stefan) - congrats on the six years. Ironically, I just made one of my less than frequent posts on my own blog today. It is mostly original content and commentary as relates finance and politics with a smattering of science and book reviews. I started in June 2004 and have 848 posts but the volume the past three years is way down. I just was burnt out on it and while I had ideas of nice posts, it seemed that simply thinking through the idea in my head was enough work that I couldn't be bothered to then put it all to paper! It really is a testament to your dedication to have kept things going for all this time on a regular basis with such a high level of professionalism.

I would like to make a suggestion regarding your old posts revisted idea. I suspect that you could probably rustle up 10 to 12 of them which are worthy of dusting off and taking the time to make "current". If that is the case, I think you should make July or August a 'Best of' month. You'll have plenty of time to put everything together and then can put the blog on auto pilot during your summer vacation!